Silvia LaDaux
'Silvia Cosette Cassandra LaDaux (initials SCCL) '''was the reigning monarch and self-declared ruler of her home, LaDaux Island and the only daughter of the late Duke Claude and Duchess Lucille. Taking the throne following the death of both her parents, her reign saw the continued rapid industrialization of Ilha das Tempestades and widespread political oppression leading to the empowerment and rise of tribal clans around the island resulting in a coup d'état effectively dethroning her and leading to her arrest, trial and planned execution before allegedly escaping to never be seen again. In spite of the seeming overwhelming odds against it, conspiracy theorists and exiled loyalists to the LaDaux throne maintain she's still alive somewhere in exile. Early Life Silvia was born in Nephi, Lamoni to Claude and Countess Lucille. Considered a miracle child of her family as she was the only child to have survived beyond birth after the premature death of three siblings before her. Because of this, Silvia was quite a sheltered child, seldom allowed to leave the estate of her family. Because of her cloistered life Silvia grew to be very shy, preferring to spend time alone but grew fond of the young son of the groundskeeper whom she often was seen playing with him on a near daily basis. She was also known to invite the young boy to her home as well, in spite of objections from her family of being with a common boy. Rumors began to swirl around Silvia's fondness with the boy leading to gossip and slander regarding the young lady and the family's future as upper class if Silvia were to grow up to wed the young boy. With that, the grounds keeping staff including the young boy whom Silvia called her only friend, were dismissed and barred from the grounds and Silvia was consistently kept even more cloistered to her room with the company of house staff. Leaving Lamoni The eve of Silvia's 8th birthday came the shocking news as her parents told her and their staff they were uprooting from Lamoni to make their fortune abroad. Over the course of a year, the LaDaux family and staff spent time on a luxury yacht moving from nation to nation but seldom going ashore for any length of time. Stops included nations of Ganosia, Lamoni, Motokata, Stevid and several others. While Claude often did business ashore, Lucille and Silvia remained aboard in port or a short distance out to sea for days on end awaiting return of Claude from his rounds with leaders and other high socialites. With absence of formal education, Silvia was privately tutored by an unnamed woman who had come aboard during a stop in AHSCA with the goal of tutoring Silvia in all proper courses of a normal education including extra activities to shape her characters as a proper young lady. Silvia and Lucille were also kept to strict diets of limited types of food and frequent exercise, though according to Silvia portions while controlled were adequate if not always the best tasting. Landing on Tempestades After more than a year on the seas the family landed on the lands of Ilha das Tempestades which at the time were mostly wilderness with sporadic settlements and villages scattered throughout. In 1999 the island was purchased by the LaDaux Family while Claude and Lucille continued to work in the oil trade business around the world but resided on the island as their own self proclaimed nation of ''LaDaux Island. The island would become the new nation for the family and efforts were made to modernize the country and get recognition from the international community. With the purchase, the Tribal Chief of Tempestades was deposed of his position and given a healthy sum of money to live off the rest of his life. Following the death of Duke Claude in a sailing accident his wife Lucille became the steward Duchess until their only daughter, Silvia could come of age and marry. Upon the death of Lucille from malaria, Silvia decided to declare herself ruler of the island in absence of other monarchs. Coronation Some ministers under Claude and Lucille opposed the idea of Silvia taking the throne at a young age or an unwed woman as Claude demanded his daughter be married first and the Duke reign in control but with LaDaux Island lacking any formal constitutional law beyond a basic charter and with no blood relatives alive to properly continue the lineage options were faced to remove Silvia or allow her rule. In a stunning vote the ministers voted 10-4 in favor of Silvia being crowned the monarch to continue the legacy set forth by the family. Tradition was considered the important part in building a nation to be formally recognized by the international community. Silvia's formal coronation ceremony took place on the evening of May 3, 2003 at the Royal Palace in Port Lucille (Now, Port Luiza in Ilha das Tempestades). The party within the palace was an affair reserved for business clients of the family and world leaders. The day was declared a day of celebration through the land, with businesses and banks closed and many put to work getting things ready. The party and gala lasted most of the night with Silvia giving a speech to the town from her balcony come the morning hours declaring she was now their absolute ruler to be obeyed without question. Reign Policy According to former citizens, Silvia was considered to rule with a near iron fist. Though citizens enjoyed basic rights, many aspects of life were heavily controlled for the favor the monarchy and aristocratic class. Silvia was also known as the Capital Monarch as under Silvia's reign the island continued to prosper as the first few years went by but Silvia took her father's plan steps further by expanding from just a private sanctuary or tourist stop to a self-sustaining nation state, inviting many more foreign manufacturers to set up residency with hefty tax relief incentives. This fostered accusations from natives who accused the Duchess of allowing exploitation, gross misconduct and pollution. The Duchess pushed off these accusations but did offer new incentives for companies there to allow labor union formations but these went largely unimplemented by visiting industries. During this time Prime Minister Maurice Orléans to be the diplomatic voice for the fledgling nation as well as manage the Royal Legislative in passing laws and expanding upon the national charter. Silvia also had LaDaux Island institute a segregation between natives of color and non-natives including in the royal court. No Native could hold any political positions and were also taxed higher. Natives within Port Lucille also were forced to always carry identification and were kept under strict curfew. Deposition Years of misconduct finally took it's toll on the native population, with some leaving to AHSCA others began to take up arms and plan a revolt. Valenzuela Avdotia eldest daughter of a farmer returned from a Spirit Quest as a charismatic individual. Feeling empowered by the Goddess Venus she grew more vocal about her disgust of the state of Tempestades and was calling the gross exploitation of the people punishment for betraying their roots and personally blamed Silvia. Efforts to silence Valenzuela from the Royal Guard proved unsuccessful as repeated assassination attempts failed. Failures only helped empower her cause as many believed she was divinely blessed and protected to bring this message to the people. Attempts at peace negotiations also fell through with a simple demand by Valenzuela to LaDeaux, leave, or die. The LaDeaux court didn't take to Val's demand and proceeded on a year long man-hunt, with massive rewards offered for her capture, dead or alive. Further efforts to satirize and decrease Valenzuela's reputation in the state controlled press also proved largely unfruitful. On the night of November 1, 2008 a group of armed assailants, lead by Valenzuela marched into the capital of Port Lucille burning every building in sight, destroying houses, businesses, automobiles and killing tourists and foreign businessmen. No distinction was made between young or old as all who were considered part of the problem were killed. Silvia remained held up in the capital and royal palace as the fighting took place with a few guards and staff remaining to protect her. Arrest and Trial Attempts to mitigate a peace still remained unheard of by Valenzuela's army and fighting resumed on the 6th. November 10th the Royal Court was penetrated by the army and Princess Silvia was captured. Upon her capture Silvia was stripped and imprisoned in a hut rigged with sharp bamboo stocks to prevent escape. Silvia was often dragged out to be humiliated or flogged before spectators and one one occasion was also hung in a mock crucifixion. When humanitarian aide workers arrived to help all sick and wounded people they asked for mercy on the poor girl or release into their care but the revolutionaries refused until Silvia could stand trial. They did concede to having her fed, clothed and have her wounds treated. Over the course of the next several months the Trials of Port Luiza (Julgamentos de Porto Luiza) trials of natives began, consisting of a six person council comprised of Valenzuela herself and several other tribal leaders which put natives on trial who had worked with or collaborated with the foreign menace. The levy of crimes consisted of *Crimes against Venus (blasphemy) *Crimes against Tempestades (act of polluting, building, or exploiting natives) *Crimes against the libertadores (those who fought with the royal court or fought against any of the liberating soldiers of Valenzuela) Penalties ranged from exile to death depending on the "consensus" of the trial council. While tried she was declared guilty on all counts and sentenced to execution. What happened afterword remains a mystery as Silvia managed to either escape or was set free from captivity. It isn't clear if she ever was able to leave the island or died in the jungles trying to reach the coast. Legacy Silvia is remembered by IDT history as a tyrant who lead their country down a wrong and immoral path. On the world stage she's little remember more than a footnote in yet another failed nation state. Those who managed to escape from the former LaDaux colony described Silvia in mixed opinions. Some remember her fondly as a fine ruler if not a little tougher than need be others called her a tyrant and a bitch. Conspiracy Theories Escape Theories Though officially declared dead by the IDT Government, theories hold Silvia is still living alive somewhere, possibly in her homeland of Lamoni or in Ganosia. Ganosian Internet columnist, Arthur Loganberry in particular has been a major proponent of this theory. In his 2010 article Lost Princess for olyanweekly.com Loganberry wrote based on the location of Silvia's prison in Port Luiza and the proximity of jungle lands to the coast it was more than plausible for Silvia to escape on a humanitarian or merchant ship. Noting several workers from AHSCA, Ganosia and Lamoni were there to aide or report as press it would have been simple for someone to pity her, release her from her primitive holdings and for her to disappear into a large crowd Other theories have pitched a secret deal was arranged to get Silvia's freedom between IDT revolutionaries and foreign officials. All major nations with vested interests in the area have been proposed, including Lamoni (place of her birth) Motokata which had foreign industries set up on the island and Ganosia which had colonies nearby. Other nations have been named but few had much vested interest in the land or area. Puppet Theories Other unusual proposals suggest Silvia was merely a puppet of a shadow government from abroad there to lead the cause of exploiting natural resources. But given the strong historical records of the family existing and the ministers of LaDaux theory this is considered dubious. Koji Irino of fringe website irino.mw.com proposed the LaDaux family were secretly a member of Stevid's notorious Knights Templar group and were waging a religious crusade with a slow genocide, allegations the Stevid government denounced as "ludicrous." Lamonian Rena Smith of darkmist.co.la propsed the entire LaDaux family and reign was a ruse to allow the current dictator, Valenzuela to rise to power and that Silvia remains alive having been paid off for her participation.